


Ender Box: Trials of the Colorless King

by KillerCurrent



Series: Ender Box [1]
Category: Homestuck, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ender Box, Gen, Homecraft, Minestuck, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-03-07 07:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3166085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillerCurrent/pseuds/KillerCurrent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"wwhat wwould you do if you wwere given a chance to start ovver? wwould you leavve behind an old life that you call your owwn and forget evverythin' youvve evver believved in? or wwould you try to go back hopin' that evverythin' wwould remain the same?"</p><p>Eridan's brooding of his recent emotional incident is abruptly stopped as he is brought into a strange new world, taking a new form and a new life. But would he give it up in order to go back to paradox space? or would he give himself the chance as he's given a new important role</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fate

_"Why am I still here?"_  Eridan sighed, as he looked around in his have a bit, feeling a bit lost for some reason.  _"I don't think I matter much to them anyways, obviously, since I've been so blinded by my own foolish acts of selfishness and what not."_

He sat down on a chair beside his window, peering out a bit. He didn't even both to open up his computer, given the fact that no one would attempt to even communicate with him. His trollian client literally collected dust, up to the point that Eridan had just completely shut off his computer. It's been a few days since his whole fiasco with Feferi and he still thought deeply about it. Though, he also thought about other matters, but it didn't take him too long to realize that it was mainly his fault and that maybe he really should change for the better. But he needed someone to talk to, which was frankly impossible since the other trolls pretty much just regarded him as someone desperate and quite selfish (except for Gamzee, who was generally forgetful about almost anything). At this rate, he'd have all the time to spend with himself in order to think of all and everything. But since the memories of the place generally haunt him, he needed another place to go...

 _Somewhere silent..._  
Somewhere where he is free of sadness and memories...  
Somewhere new and untamed...  
A place he could run to at this very moment...

 _"What the fuck am I talkin' about?!"_ He questioned his thoughts a bit.  _"Sure, everyone pretty much ignores me, but still, this is my hive, my home, my planet; a place where I feel safe even with all the fuckin' angels outside trying to kill me..."_

His train of thoughts was then immediately interrupted by a knock on his door. Eridan opened to the door, to see no one, but only to find a mysterious box in front of his doorstep.

 _"What the fuck?"_ Eridan then pushed the box inside his hive for closer inspection.

The box had a dark blue-green color to it, patterned in an unknown and strange method, with a bright yellow lock and a strange eyeball-esque shape carved on the bottom of the lock with a bright coloring. The box was also surrounded by strange particles, in a purple color. Eridan walked around the box to observe it, as he shut the door and took a small chug of Faygo in his hand. The box then suddenly opened its top, revealing itself to be a chest of some sort as it spewed a scroll directly towards Eridan's face with slightly great force. The chest then closed itself again.

"Ow!" Eridan exclaimed in pain, holding and rubbing his left cheek as he grabbed the scroll on the floor and slowly opened it. "A journey through a new world...?" The scroll was short and contained one text as he read curiously.  _"What the fuck does that-"_

His train of thoughts was interrupted when the chest suddenly opened up again, wide and out. The aura of the chest glowed darkly, as it suddenly started to suck Eridan in. He didn't have time to struggle and think, he was sucked in successfully due to literally being taken by surprise.

 _This is it..._  
He is being taken...  
Going to finally be able to say goodbye...  
But would he forget it all?

* * *

A while after, Eridan tried to slowly open his eyes, feeling a bit dizzy and hurt. As he slowly came to his sense, he found himself facing the bright blue and sunny sky, with his back laid against the sand. He the tried to stand up, and as he did, he found himself near some water and some colorful canyon.

 _"Where..."_  Eridan started, standing up straight and rubbing his head slowly, as he saw that he was in a beach with cacti.  _"Where am I?..."_

The world he was in, definitely wasn't his planet, LOWAA, anymore; since there were no angels or any tall or historical buildings in sight. The world also appeared to be almost symmetrical with everything was seemingly made out of squares for some reason. Eridan then took a good look of his body in his own point of view; he now had blocky arms and had an apparent golden tint and he wore nothing completely, though that fact didn't matter. He also noticed a new system underneath him, which was first indicated by the hot bar, and a new weapon placed within its first space.

 _"Where's my rifle anyways?"_ Eridan searched the rest of his inventory but didn't find the Ahab's Crosshairs; his inventory had nothing except for the aforementioned weapon earlier.  _"How the fuck am I suppose to survive without even a proper weapon?"_ Eridan seemingly had no choice, as he picked the mysterious weapon, which appeared to be a long glaive made out of gold, shining quite nicely, as if made with magical or enchanted properties.  _"I guess this'll have to do for now..."_ He then started to scan his surroundings, looking for anything that's alive.  _"What am I supposed to do now?"_

He then attempted to familiarize himself with the new system, which pretty much replaced the sylladex. Then as he opened his whole new inventory system and immediately saw the four unoccupied squares on the upper right of the inventory. He also saw his new form, which appeared to be a bipedal and blocky creature of some sort appearing gold, with a large mouth on the front face, and eyes in the side of the head; and for some reason Eridan didn't feel the slight mood to question or even be disturbed about it. He then noticed a bunch of hearts on the left side of the hot bar, ten hearts, which he assumed represented his health as he also noticed a bunch of drumsticks on the right side of the screen which he assumed had something with nutrition, and a blue vertical bar above his hunger which he assumed involved hydration. Then he also noticed a long dark gray bar on top of the hot bar, which was seemingly divided by several vertical lines, though he had no idea what that one was about.

 _"I still don't get much of this…"_ Eridan looked and analyzed the HUD thoroughly, then sighing to himself.  _"But I guess it'll have to do…"_

Eridan then looked upon the sandy ground below him.

 _"Wonder if I can dig some of this up…"_ Eridan then proceeded to punch the ground, seeing the visible cracks as it slowly breaks, thereafter, he picked it up as it landed on the second space of his hot bar.  _"Looks to be like it…"_ He then broke a couple more sand, and then wanted to see if his hypothesis was correct.  _"Hmm…"_ He then placed four of the sand blocks had collected on each of the four squares in his inventory then an item popped out of the square on the right side of the four squares and was pointed by an arrow.  _"Sand Crafting Table?..."_ Eridan read the item's label curiously, since he had never seen or heard of such a thing.  _"Wait… so does this take the sand I used?"_ Eridan then took the sand crafting table out of place, and sure enough, the four blocks of sand disappeared, and something had popped up on the upper right corner.

 _"Looks like I achieved somethin' out a' that…"_ Eridan then curiously approached a three-block tall cactus, though he got a little too close, damaging himself by a half heart. "Ow…!" He cautiously and quickly stood away, feeling the prickly pain inflicted on him as he aimed his glaive carefully at it.  _"Guess that fuckin' hurts me…"_ He did notice that his health regenerated, though after a short while, one of the drumsticks went down.  _"And that pretty much wastes nutrients gotta be careful next time…"_ After the notification disappeared, he then noticed a small arrow peering from the middle right side of his inventory.  _"What could this be?"_ He then opened it up, only to see a darker box containing a large array of items.  _"Whoa…"_ Eridan was given a large arrangement of items, in several rows and columns, with the two gray arrows beneath and the page enumeration in between.  _"One out a' three hundred and thirty seven..."_ He slowly read the page number and was very astonished by how much can be found and/or at least made in this new found world.  _"I wonder..."_ He saw the sand crafting table on the second page and decided to see what it was, only to see four blocks of various types of sands on a two-by-two formation in a three-by-three square interface similar to the two-by-two square in his inventory.  _"Hmm... I guess this was how it's made... but wait..."_ An idea then casually popped into Eridan's mind.  _"This must show how to make things... and what not..."_ He then curiously checked out the remaining items, as he saw how things were made by hand, with various materials

* * *

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

CC: )(ey Eridan!  
CC: YOU T)(-ER-E?  
CC: 38D  
CC: )(-ELLO?  
CC: glub?

Feferi sat inside her hive waiting ambiguously for a response from apparently inactive sea-dweller, as she had her time free. It had been a few days since their last encounter with each other, which ended up being totally more emotional that she'd hope, and she figured that maybe it was already a good time to to talk him about it in order to clear the air once and for all. Though she noticed that he hasn't been really active on Trollian since then, he was active about two days after the whole incident and it really bothered her. She's been trying to chat with him for a while, though she got no response and just assumed that maybe he was just resting himself after all of it.

CC: seariously Eridan, you're gonna have to talk to me eventually...  
CC: you get this right?  
CC: *SIG)(*  
CC: I guess...  
CC: I'll talk to you later then...

cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

 _"It's been a while, he has to have understood..."_ She thought sadly, she laid him down gently though he reacted quite indifferently with his own actions, and she quite knew how that felt.  _"I mean I told him off gently and that everything was supposed to be for the good of both of us..."_ She felt happy that she finally broke off her moirallegiance with him, though she felt a bit guilty to just drop it like that despite her sweeps of experience with him.  _"I did the right thing, and I shouldn't regret that, as what a real empress would do."_ Then in the corner of her eye, she then saw  _caligulasAquarium [CA]_  fading away slowly from the Trollian client.  _"Wait!"_ She just watched in futility as she just saw his name disappear, not idle or inactive but just gone.

She then swam out of her hive, quickly and hastily, with a very worried look as she headed for Eridan's dangerous planet known as the Land of Angels and Wrath...

* * *

Eridan has managed to craft himself an axe and a pickaxe, with cacti wood planks, sand and sandstone. Now he really ready to start off his first day into the world, though seemingly a bit late as the sun was very high up, signifying that noon is already in progress. The heat seemed to be intense in the desert, though it prominent had no effect on him as he built his shelter, though his hunger seemed a bit down.

 _"I wonder if you could eat the blocks..."_ He then switched his hot bar to his stack of sand blocks, and then curiously consumed one.  _"Oh you can, but is there a catch?"_ His consumption of the sand block resulted into two out of the five hunger he had lost, and then after waiting a while, nothing happened, so he assumed that it was okay.  _"I suppose it'll be good for now..."_

He then consume more blocks of sand until his hunger hit full again. It's his temporary plan for consumption for survival just until he finds an alternative or kill an animal for proper food. Eridan had already learn much of the essential basics needed, due to the fact that he had been constant searching for ways. He found out that he could mine out several minerals and/or minerals from underground and use them to craft various objects and mostly armor and weaponry. He then learned the  _placing-of-blocks_ concept that had surrounded him, which is what he was doing at the moment. He was busy building his home, out of green cacti wood planks, and he initially planned it to be just simple and expansion will be done later on.

The green house (naturally called because of the green color) was going to be built with a square exterior with a few glass windows and a door, with some red sandstone floors. He also apparently saw furniture, but he'll have to do that later, since he needed to get the basic stuff down first. He also learned that he had a choice to sleep at night or to fight monsters which apparently appear at night, so a bed was definitely needed. He needed wool or cloth to craft a simple bed, but it wasn't going to be easy since no sheep can be found in the desert biome, but he then found out that some of the monsters at night, rather  _mobs_ , tend to drop them in a slow scale of chance, he used a feature of the new inventory system that tells the player what drops what, and what chances it has, which saved him a lot of time.

 _"I can finally use that mysterious weapon, I wonder how powerful it is..."_ His curiosity has grown about the mysterious glaive, he hasn't used it at all since he hasn't found any enemies to slay.  _"I just have to be careful though, I'm not used to wielding such things..."_ He was often used to ranged combat with his rifle, but this time he'll have to rely solely on melee combat, something of which he isn't familiar of.

A few minutes then passed, and after placing about a stack and a half of cacti wooden planks, a bit red sandstone, and some glass, he had finally done building the house. He looked over at it with pride, but not for long, as he had to get ready for the night.

_"Bring it on..."_


	2. Struggles of the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this took a little long, was a little busy irl  
> But now it's here :3

It was already sunset, and Eridan was done crafting majority of the things he'll require for the night. He seemed to be wearing armor made out of cacti, not cacti wood, but fresh ones. He sat inside his home, watching the sunset through his window, occasionally consuming sand to maintain his hunger. Along with the mysterious and enchanted glaive which was named  _"Vendaval",_  he also crafted a cactus sword and a sandstone sword, plus his tools he had used and crafted earlier. During that time of his preparation he had achieved the following:

 **Achievement Acquired:** **  
Sand Mining**

 **Achievement Acquired:** **  
Desert Warrior**

 **Achievement Acquired:** **  
Cacti Culminator**

 **Path Taken:** **  
The Sandman**

 _"Path? Sandman?"_ Eridan was in question, pretty much curious of this world, what was this all about and why would it suddenly have paths?  _"Better look into that, considerin' it could kill me..."_

He then noticed that it already got dark outside, as he looked through the window to see stars and the moon rising up. He then got up from his chair, wielding his glaive as he approached the door slowly. It wasn't too pitch black outside, maybe a bit dark, he also had some torches already prepared, which was crafted out of coal and cacti wood. He already went down mining earlier, he found himself a decent amount of mineral to work with, though he intends to learn more about mining. He also had made a furnace, he already knew how to use thanks to the NEI system, which was the system he had used earlier. He then opened the door, and slowly made his exit, as he found himself outside his home.

He then noticed several green-skinned creatures heading his way. There were about three of them, apparently wearing the same outfit, a cyan shirt, blue pants and gray shoes. Eridan raised his glaive as the zombies got closer and closer to him, looking up at his interface; he saw that said creatures were zombies. He then poked one of the zombies whom responded with a short grunt and being knocked back a bit. He then followed through by slashing and picking some more, up until the zombies fully died down with a fading grunt. The zombies have apparently dropped a few pieces of rotten flesh, but no wool, which Eridan needed. He had also achieved something out of his short battle with the zombies:

 **Achievement Acquired:** **  
Strike Down!**

Eridan then saw a group of peculiarly thin and white group of five mobs, with one of them black and seemed to be to have like a fiery aura around it. He also observed them wielding bows, in which he assumed that they were ranged in combat.

 _"Right, I've seen Eq fire off one those before, apparently it uses these called arrows as ammunition...'_ He remembered the time he saw Equius in a strife using a bow, and knew that these mobs were going to do the same.

With their backs turned away from him, Eridan saw his opportunity and charged towards them. Luck was seemingly cruel for him though, as he got closer and closer, one of the white ones turned and released an arrow on him, hitting him and damaging him for two a heart. Eridan was taken a back a bit, before he turned to the white skeleton who fired off and whacking him with glaive, killing the skeleton in a few hits. The remaining skeletons then got close to Eridan, firing arrows at him as they walked towards him, with the black skeleton apparently firing burning arrows. Eridan successfully regenerated his health and fended off most of the arrows using his glaive, but apparently got shot by some of them, resulting in the loss of four hearts. He then continued to wail with his weapon, slashing and piking most of the skeletons, until the black skeleton remaining. As Eridan had it face-to-face, with only five hearts remaining, the orange eyes of the black skeleton remained emotionless as he looked at it with a serious expression.

 _"I hope it doesn't-"_ Eridan then dodged as the black skeleton released a fiery arrow upon him.  _"What a fuckin' douchebag!"_ _For Eridan, the creatures should at least learn a bit of respect._

Eridan then chose to charge towards it with his glaive, as he ran towards it. The skeleton then did something unexpected. It suddenly drew an enchanted alumite sword and ran towards Eridan. Both their weapons clashed as Eridan defended himself with his glaive, taken by surprise by the skeleton. The skeleton then jumped up from his place and landed behind Eridan. As Eridan turned to see this, he was instantly knocked back shortly by the skeleton. Eridan lost a heart, and his hunger was down, as he had no time to stop and eat. The skeleton quickly ran after him, as he stood up. He defensively prepared his final stand against it, with his glaive raised.

The burning black skeleton then got close enough, Eridan got his chance. He bashed the skeleton rapidly as it got damaged repeatedly. The skeleton quickly went down, dropping several pieces of coal, some bones and string. Eridan tried to catch his breath and rest, as he consumed sand block in order to regain some lost hunger and regenerate some lost hearts. He then quickly sat down on a nearby sand block in order to catch his health.

 _"I nearly got myself burned…"_ Eridan thought, sighing to his own bluntness as he regained more and more of health.

* * *

Feferi appeared in LOWAA, teleporting from the sky as she landed downwards slowly. Then as she laid her eyes upon the ground she flew on, the sight caught her by surprise. The planet known as the Land of Wrath and Angels was now…

_A wasteland…_

_A lifeless desert…_

She tried to regain her grip on the reality of things, and what had seemingly happened. She had suddenly felt her own heart crushed as she walked slowly on the sandy and dusty ground of the former planet. Apparently, the sun did not affect her, even with three of them continuously staring down at ground and it wasn't green like Alternia's, instead it was a bit blue and covered most of the surface. The first thing she tried to find was any signs of life, but she had no luck in doing so; with the angels and the buildings all seemingly gone. The second thing she tried to find, was any sign of Eridan being there, but to her dismay, his hive wasn't even there, let alone what chances of finding him personally?

Feferi then saw a small wooden sign from the distant. Then as she approached it, it read:

_Requiem of Hope in Silence_

_"No…"_ She then stopped walking.

Apparently, the deserted planet was filled with cacti, plus some landscapes that was formed with colorful sand. The landscapes were tall and quite diverse as it could've been seen in most places, from the ground. But still, the place felt lifeless, and there wasn't even any water, or even anything alive in sight of where she was, yet the calm and cool suns provided some shade and the small gusts of wind that apparently circulated the desert. Feferi was about to take her next step, when she saw that someone was messaging her huskphone. She then saw a familiar gray text communicating with her.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

CG: FEFERI, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!  
CG: ERIDAN IS SUDDENLY GONE  
CG: I DON'T KNOW ABOUT HIM PHYSICALLY BEING GONE  
CG: BUT I'M NOT SAYING THAT HE'S JUST IDLE  
CG: HE'S LITERALLY JUST GONE FROM THE CLIENT LIST  
CC: I know Karcrab 38(  
CC: I saw how )(is name just DISAPP-EAR-ED from the client  
CC: I'm on LOWAA right now  
CC: Or at least, w)(at was left of it  
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN *WHAT WAS LEFT OF IT*?  
CC: The w)(ole planet is deserted now.  
CG: WHAT?  
CC: Literally and figuratively  
CC: Just plain empty  
CG: YOU MEAN  
CC: Uh huh.  
CC: There was no sign of –Eridan either  
CG: HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?  
CC: To be )(onest, I don't glubbing know  
CC: I just saw t)(is wooden sign )(-ER-E t)(oug)(  
CG: WHAT DOES IT SAY?  
CC: It says  ** ~~shush be in hopeless silence.~~**  
CC: !  
CG: WHAT?  
CG: I DON'T EVEN SEE ANYTHING.  
CC: I'm shore I typed in somet)(ing!  
CC: I swear!  
CG: WELL JUST LOOK INTO THAT LATER ON  
CG: IT COULD BE JUST A FUCKING GLITCH  
CG: BUT FOR NOW, LET'S JUST ESTABLISH THE FACT THAT WE JUST LOST ANOTHER TEAMMATE  
CG: WHAT GREAT NEWS!  
CG: I'M SURE EVERYONE WOULD BE GLAD TO FUCKING KNOW THAT ANOTHER TROLL EITHER DIED OR IS JUST PLAIN MISSING.  
CC: Karkat, clam down! 38(  
CG: HOW THE FUCK CAN I DO THAT?!  
CG: ANOTHER ONE OF US HAD JUST SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED AND HIS PLANET WAS SUDDENLY TURNED INTO LIFELESS WASTELAND OF A PLACE  
CG: AND YOU'RE TELLING ME I SHOULD BE CALM?  
CC: God!  
CC: Just stop carping about it right now will you!?  
CC: *SIG)(*  
CC: Look, I )(aven't totally checked the whole planet out  
CC: So I might actually go walking around the place  
CG: ALRIGHT THEN  
CG: FOR THE MEAN TIME, I SHOULD TELL THE OTHERS  
CC: No, don't do it yet.  
CG: WHY?  
CC: For we might know, he might be still )(ere…  
CG: HIS NAME DISAPPEARED ON THE FUCKING CLIENT  
CG: HOW THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT TO FIND HIM *PERSONALLY*  
CC: I glubbing don't know Karcrab.  
CC: And  
CC: If I don't find )(im, I guess it's better to tell everyone  
CC: 38(  
CG: ALRIGHT THEN  
CG: JUST TROLL ME WHEN YOU'RE DONE  
CG: AND I'LL MAKE A MEMO ABOUT IT  
CC: Okay.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

She then sighed to herself, as she looked around the diverse and seemingly empty surroundings. She noticed the a few things she had said to Karkat a few minutes earlier was reminiscent of what she had said to Eridan a few days ago.

 _"Eridan, wherever you glubbing are, I just hope that you aren't dead…"_ She thought of it all sadly, she seemed to be taking in the emotional tension.  _"I hope."_

She then silently looked around, then up into the sky, as the blue suns were slowly falling down.

* * *

Eridan continued to walk around the desert. He had apparently been fighting mobs while continuously learning about the world. Apparently, he had observed the different biomes that surrounded the desert. It took him a while to see it though, but the desert was beside a huge grassy mountain. He also observed several structures like temples, pyramids and small villages which were around the area. He passed by the villages first, which mainly housed these strange humans with big noses and folded arms. Apparently it also came to attention that they were a bit noisy. He also noticed that they open for trading various things for a strange green rock. He also noticed these large and bright gray creatures hulking and roaming around the village, he also observed their protective nature over the villagers as he saw them attacking several zombies by swinging their large arms.

BeoufButcher: Excuse me?

Eridan then heard someone calling him from behind as he passed the village. He then turned to see a two-block tall being with fairly tanned skin, brown hair and beard, blue eyes, wearing a white sleeved shirt, brown pants with suspenders and black boots.

BeoufButcher: Hi there.  
cactiaquisition: hello  
BeoufButcher: Welcome stranger to our little village.

Beef then did a bit of a gentleman's bow or at least seeming so, Eridan smiled at the gesture. The man was seemingly different than the other beings in the villagers, he didn't seem to have said features, and he actually talked or at least communicated rather than just making random noises.

cactiaquisition: umm  
cactiaquisition: thanks  
cactiaquisition: i guess  
cactiaquisition: wwhats your name  
BeoufButcher: Well, the villagers call me Beouf the Butcher, but the other players call me Beef, good sir.  
BeoufButcher: Yours?  
cactiaquisition: wwait  
cactiaquistion: is beef your actual name  
BeoufButcher: No good squid sir.  
cactiaquisition: oh  
cactiaquisition: wwell then  
cactiaquisition: im eridan ampora  
BeoufButcher: Nice to meet you Eridan  
BeoufButcher: Do you need anything to trade in?  
cactiaquisition: wwait  
cactiaquisition: i thought you wwere different that those guys with the big noses  
BeoufButcher: I am  
BeoufButcher: But we players have the option to trade stuff.  
cactiaquisition: really  
BeoufButcher: Yes  
cactiaquisition: wwell  
cactiaquisition: i dont really havve much to trade for right noww  
cactiaquisition: i just started in this strange wworld apparently  
cactiaquisition: and i just wwon my first fights wwith all these creatures  
cactiaquisition: could you explain to me a bit about this  
cactiaquisition: game  
BeoufButcher: Sure

Beef then suddenly threw out a book that had its title shown above his hot bar similar to most of his items. Eridan then picked it up and saw the book entitled  _Into the Beginning of a New World: A Minecraft Basics Guide._ It was kind of strange seeing such a thing, Eridan wondered if it can be used as a weapon.

BeoufButcher: That is the guide you will be needing in learning the basics of survival in this world.  
cactiaquisition: thanks  
cactiaquisition: can i keep this  
BeoufButcher: Yep, I've survived long enough to know that I've learned enough.  
BeoufButcher: By the way, since you're already here, may I have a request for you?

Eridan felt unsure, by somewhat ready to help abide his hand in this matter, in order to repay Beef for his huge help.

cactiaquisition: sure  
cactiaquisition: wwhat is it  
BeoufButcher: We have been having a lot of sandstorms and wild gusts in the last few weeks.  
BeoufButcher: Though that isn't unusual in the desert as this occurs almost at a scarce rate  
cactiaquisition: okay  
BeoufButcher: But lately, they have been getting more and more intense, not to mention they have increased in occurrence in general.

Beef then turned to look at a nearby ruined house, which was apparently ruined by a sandstorm a few days ago. Only it's roof could be seen as it was really deep beneath the sand.

cactiaquisition: thats terrible  
BeoufButcher: Aye  
BeoufButcher: We've been visiting the nearby pyramid of the sand guardian, Noch Einfield and offered a lot of our resources to him as a peace treaty.  
BeoufButcher: We think he is apparently releasing his wrath upon us for apparently overruling the desert as our own and forgetting about him  
cactiaquisition: thats probably not it  
cactiaquisition: i mean howw long havve you been offering to him  
BeoufButcher: We've been sacrificing our resources for the past few weeks but still this plague of misfortune still continue to haunt us.  
cactiaquisition: wwait  
cactiaquisition: so you wwant me to check out the pyramid thing  
cactiaquisition: and see if i could negotiate with this  _sand guardian_  
BeoufButcher: Well not exactly negotiate  
BeoufButcher: Just go see if you can talk to him about this  
BeoufButcher: And maybe ask him to accept our offerings?  
cactiaquisition: maybe that wwont work  
cactiaquisition: and wwhy are you askin me about this  
cactiaquisition: do you knoww that i am powerful enough to stop him  
BeoufButcher: No, it's just that everyone else in the village is too afraid to get caught up in this mess.  
cactiaquisition: wwhat about those giant wwhite creatures roaming the place  
cactiaquisition: the one wwith the huge arms  
BeoufButcher: Even this is beyond their physical boundaries  
BeoufButcher: Besides, you look very mystical due to your slightly unique color and amphibious ability to walk on land, unlike normal squids.  
cactiaquisition: huh  
cactiaquisition: i still think there could be another reason wwhy this is happening  
cactiaquisition: but ill go see this sand guardian myself  
cactiaquisition: and investigate this wwhole fiasco  
BeoufButcher: Thank you  
BeoufButcher: And if you at least manage to find out what's causing this mess  
BeoufButcher: We'll go over and tell the mayor about this  
cactiaquisition: no problem  
cactiaquisition:wwhich wway is to the pyramid anywways  
BeoufButcher: Let's pass by the mining drill down the village, they have a map that could guide you there.  
cactiaquisition: alright  
cactiaquisition: showw me the wway


	3. Pyramid of the Metamorphic Sand Master

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: This is gonna be shorter than my usual standard, but press assured, I'll be pay it back in the coming chapters.

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft or Homestuck, if I did then... shit man.** _

* * *

Eridan slowly read up on the basics he needed to know. Apparently, he had only learned a quarter of things based on how he was doing. He also had little experience on combat, evidenced by his kills of only five zombies and five skeletons. Even his battle with the fire skeleton proved to be just a small step, even though it was a struggle for him. Though it turns out, those monsters that he saw earlier can actually have variations of their own, ranging from wearing armor, wielding different weapons to having elemental powers and magical properties. Plus he had only started out, and impromptu nonetheless, if anyone was to listen long and tedious enough, surely they'd understand. Like his current companion going into town, BeoufButcher.

cactiaquisition: so  
cactiaquisition: howw far is this vvillage you're talking about  
BeoufButcher: Not far.  
BeoufButcher: Just a few blocks away...  
cactiaquisition: you really havve no idea of wwhats going on  
cactiaquisition: and you guys are just assuming that this  
cactiaquisition: sand guardian guy  
cactiaquisition: just wwants an offering  
cactiaquisition: but as of recent evvents  
cactiaquisition: he doesnt seem to like it  
cactiaquisition: rather noww  
cactiaquisition: you need someone to represent the vvillage  
cactiaquisition: because you think that none of you are powwerful enough to take him on  
BeoufButcher: Yes  
cactiaquisition: thats kinda of a dumb assumption  
cactiaquisition: wwhy not just talk to the guy  
cactiaquisition: evven that would seem reasonable to do  
cactiaquisition: you said earlier that you are all scared of him  
cactiaquisition: wwhy is that  
BeoufButcher: Well, considering the magnitude of his sand powers,  
BeoufButcher: And the fact that he's currently down his wrath on us,  
BeoufButcher: It can really make anyone think that someone has a grudge.  
cactiaquisition: so you are all basically asusming this guardian in mad at you  
cactiaquisition: for wwhatever reason  
cactiaquisition: and that you need help in talking to him  
BeoufButcher: Yes.  
cactiaquisition: no offense  
cactiaquisition: but that sounds like glubbing shit  
cactiaquisition: and ivve heard wworse excuses in my time  
cactiaquisition: i mean wwhy not talk to him straight up  
cactiaquisition: its not like you cant survvivve an attack or something  
cactiaquisition: and if he really wwanted you all dead or something  
cactiaquisition: then he wwould have actually used his almighty powers to drown you all in sand  
BeoufButcher: Well...  
BeoufButcher: Now that you have mentioned that  
BeoufButcher: I suppose we could look into it.  
BeoufButcher: And that's where you'll come in.  
cactiaquisition: wwhat  
BeoufButcher: I suppose you could ask him what he wants with us when you're talking to him.  
BeoufButcher: Because, like I said, we're all too afraid of the guardian.  
cactiaquisition: sigh  
cactiaquisition: wwhatever  
cactiaquisition: i just hope it doesnt bite me in the back and kills me

Both of them were nearing the village, as they walked towards it. It was just a small little village with about three houses, a masonry, a windmill and one of those mining drills that Beef was talking about. They still stood on the desert biome, so the buildings were built out of smooth and normal sandstone. Taking a guess, the villagers haven't really thought of using cacti wood yet. It was late night, so the villagers were in their homes as expected, though it was notable that one of the houses was sunk down under the sand and was recently buried up. Eridan just shook his golden squid head, as he and Beef walked right passed it, heading towards the drill. Once beside the drill, Beef approached a small wooden rack and handed Eridan some sort of map.

BeoufButcher: Well, I'm sure you wouldn't get lost with this.  
BeoufButcher: The pyramid's already marked down with a small X on the map.  
BeoufButcher: You just need to follow the trail there, alright?  
cactiaquisition: fine  
cactiaquisition: wwhat wwill you be doing  
BeoufButcher: I'm gonna be guarding the place with the iron golems.  
BeoufButcher: It's a very bad place at night as you can see.  
BeoufButcher: And these guys need all the help they could get.  
cactiaquisition: alright  
cactiaquisition: see you around then

And with that, Eridan walked off into the desert, apparently on his way to trail the pyramid of Noch Einfield, and have a negotiable deal with him. The golden squidman wasn't expecting the trail to be easy though, as he already some mobs roaming around the place. On his first few seventy blocks away from the village, he had already seen quite a bit of something distant from him.

_"Shit..."_ The sea-dwelling trolled turned golden squidman thought.  _"What the glubbing fuck is that?!"_

It was a large and slightly-greenish black creature, with its dark green eyes and some sort of large sting on its back, plus two pincers on its front and eight legs supporting its weight. Apparently, it was a colorful giant scorpion. Eridan, being the unfamiliar player he was, decided to search the book given to him by Beef, when he was then attacked by a skeleton behind him, making his accidentally dropping his book, as he got hit by the arrow. Luckily it was just one skeleton, however it's likely to call for backup. Eridan quickly grabbed his long glaive and smacked the skeleton to pieces, crushing his opponent quickly. However, he was too late as the skeleton had called for backup. The backup was apparently four skeletons wielding stone swords as the group ran towards Eridan. Eridan then instinctively spun the glaive around, as it then scattered the skeletons distantly and blew them away.

_"I'm gettin' the hang a' this."_ He thought to himself, as the skeletons kept on charging towards him.

What Eridan didn't know is that, the skeletons were actually pushing him towards the giant scorpion, which would be a bad idea. Seeing his newfound prey, the scorpion then slowly moved forward as it tried to reach Eridan. Meanwhile, the golden squidman fended off the skeletons, by using his glaive as a block. With a few quick and powerful swings, the skeletons were then instantly killed by his glaive, but Eridan did not realize he was in the cross hairs of his first impromptu boss fight.

Turning around, Eridan then saw the scorpion near him as he then picked up his book, before backing off slightly. With its two pairs of intimidating eyes, it stared down at Eridan, with its sting and pincers ready to kill him. The scorpion then suddenly leaped at Eridan as he then attempted to sting him. With one swipe of his glaive, he was able to push the scorpion back, and dealt quite a bit of damage. However, the scorpion wasn't going down easily. It's tough shell barely cracked as it then turned to Eridan again, and quickly ran towards him. Eridan, being a man of the glaive and bravery, quickly slammed his glaive in succession as the scorpion took damage. As the scorpion took more damage, it then suddenly increased its speed as it then appeared behind Eridan. Having no time to react, he then quickly climbed up his glaive and jumped up high. In very quick succession, Eridan hacked and slashed the scorpion again, this time doing through damage with the Wind Slash II enchantment on his glaive. The scorpion was able to pierce Eridan with its sting, giving him a 30-second dose of venom which then quickly took quite a few hearts from him. With one final stand, Eridan then killed the scorpion was severing its tail from its body as it died and dropped quite a few loots. Ranging from a few bits of rotten flesh, and a scorpion sting, plus it's two pincers. The capacity of the stuff was really surprising for Eridan, since the mobs he had killed earlier barely had much on them. But then again, it was justifiably a boss.

_"Shit. That was a close one..."_ Eridan panted a bit, being out of breath, with his health slowly regenerating as he went into a free hand and checked his inventory.  _"That was a lot a' stuff..."_ He said, as he hovered over the pincers and the sting.  _"Damn... whatever this is for, I'll just have to look in the book again..."_

Eridan then continued his journal through the desert, as he read the map. More mobs seemed to come his way, as he cleared down very easily. He's still a little spooked by his first boss fight though, as he didn't expect it. Most players would've probably chosen to run from the giant scorpion rather than fight it with a weapon. Eridan then reached a giant sand dune, standing on it, as he then quickly inspected the horizon for any structures. He narrowed his eyes on the horizon, then checked the map as he looked down on it.

Distant from him, a small pyramid built of chiseled sandstone pillars stood. Beside the pyramid was a giant statue of a fish built out of solid sand and carpenter blocks. The giant fish had its mouth open as it stared up into the sky. Whoever built the pyramid must've had some experience at hand, and the said builder must really mean business. Eridan stared at the pyramid before looking at then entrance. He felt a little queasy and nervous, but since he was put up to the test and he made a slight commitment to the butcher, he pressed on. Plus, if the guardian turned out to be a boss, it could add some learning to his experience, even though this is just like FLARPING 101.

_Eridan slowly entered the pyramid, not knowing of the being that awaited him inside..._


End file.
